MEXICO CITY – A Mexico state judicial official says the alleged son of the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Catholic order Legions of Christ, is in custody on attempted extortion charges.
The official says Jose Raul Gonzalez Lara was detained. She was not authorized to speak to the press.
Legion spokesman Javier Bravo confirmed Tuesday that the order had filed a criminal complaint against Gonzalez.
A Mexican woman divulged in 2010 that Maciel, a Roman Catholic priest, had fathered two of her children, including Gonzalez, and accused him of molesting both.
The legion then said Gonzalez had asked for $26 million in exchange for his silence.
The Vatican took over the conservative order in 2010 after finding that Maciel, who died in 2007, abused seminarians and fathered at least three sons.
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